Origin of the Republic Sith
by The Phantom Belcher
Summary: Following the defeat of the Sith Emperor, Lord Scourge finds himself asking the important question of "What now?" When a young Jedi student on Tython asks him the same questions he's asking himself, a choice is made...


Lord Scourge, the former Emperor's Wrath, sat cross-legged on a cushion in a meditation chamber in the Jedi Temple on Tython, deep in thought. Meditation, he admitted, was never his strong suit, but he had learned it by necessity over the last three hundred years to keep his sanity and his focus on his mission.

A mission, he now figured, was at an end. The Sith Emperor was dead. The same Jedi Knight whose face he had seen in a vision centuries ago, the one he'd sworn to follow, had dealt the killing blow, as he had foreseen. And now came the eternal question for one whose life spanned centuries and could possibly stretch millennia into the future: _Where do I go from here?_

He felt a presence nearby. It wasn't threatening, nor fearful as he had come to expect of his own presence in this place, the heart of what until recently he considered enemy territory, just curious. He reached out with the Force, feeling for the presence. There. A young girl, Human, no more than twelve standard Galactic years old. He opened one eye.

"You don't fear me, child." It was more of a statement than a question, and something inside him told him he knew it. "What is your name, youngling?"

A girl stepped out from where she was hiding, entering the chamber. "Kanessa, my lord," she said formally, bowing to him but never taking her eyes off him. She was small even for her age, just over a meter tall, with dark skin, brown eyes, long black hair worn in a loose tail that hung to the small of her back, and, most curiously, a lone Mirialan diamond tattooed onto the center of her forehead. Unlike other Jedi trainees who carried a training saber on their shoulders, she carried a metal staff in her hand. His curiosity piqued at her greeting; it was formal, as one who had had exposure to Sith already. And her accent was clearly Imperial, though he detected traces of it changing to a less refined accent due to her time in Republic space.

"You were born Imperial," he stated. "Come, sit." She walked in and took a seat on a cushion facing him, near enough to talk softly and not be overheard, though far enough away that he could not touch her directly. He smiled inwardly; _clever girl_.

"Dromund Fel," she explained, "though my family transferred to Thule not long after I was born." He frowned. Thule had been one of the early losses in the restarted war. The Jedi must have found her before she could be identified and sent to Korriban.

The silence hung between them for a while, slightly uncomfortable, before Kanessa broke it.

"My lord, why are you here?" He quirked an eyebrow at the question. "I mean no disrespect, my lord, but I've heard the other Jedi talking about you. They say you say you'll always be Sith. Don't the Sith and Jedi wish to destroy each other?"

Scourge sighed. This innocent child had a knack for asking him the same questions he had been asking himself. "Yes," he finally admitted, "that's how it has been for over a millennium. It is my experience that the Jedi seek to destroy the darkness, Sith or otherwise, sometimes by turning Sith to the light. Other times the Jedi, like after the Great Hyperspace War, would drive the darkness away. The Sith, at least the Sith under the Emperor, have sought to destroy the Jedi and the light."

"Does it have to be that way?" Kanessa asked. "Can't the Jedi and Sith orders work together, the way you and the Hero of Tython have?"

"That," he slowly admitted, "is a very good question, youngling." And one for which he had no answer.

* * *

The next time Scourge encountered Kanessa was while he was wandering the outside training grounds of the Temple. He came across a Jedi teaching students as they dueled, correcting their forms and giving pointers. He looked around the group: A rare Wookiee student being taught Djem So, a natural choice given the legendary strength of his species; a handful of students being shown Niman, the balanced form which used the Force as much as a blade; a green-skinned Twi'lek girl using Ataru and, he noticed with a smile, Jar'Kai, a shorter blade in her off hand for parrying; one Human male that looked rather out of place with how fancily he dressed and who used Makashi, derived from ancient fencing forms, his off-hand held behind his back the entire time; and more than a handful using Soresu, the defensive form, dragging the fight to the point of exhaustion. And then there was Kanessa, looking out of place with her staff, in a style that seemed to combine the defensive stance of Soresu with the acrobatics of Ataru and, he found this curious, the sharp jabs and seemingly wild swings of Juyo. That almost surprised him, before he remembered her accent; at least one of her parents must have been Sith, then, to have taught her part of that last style. The Jedi rarely taught Juyo, as it was often used to channel the Dark Side of the Force. Her footwork was sloppy - to be fair, everyone there had sloppy footwork - but her grip on the staff and unorthodox style was working in her favor.

As he approached, a number of the fights paused to observe him. Kanessa's opponent, the fop using the fencing style, paused as well, only to be smacked in the face with her staff.

"I wasn't ready, runt!" the boy exclaimed, clearly showing an Alderaanian accent. Scourge inwardly scoffed, while approving of Kanessa's tactic.

"Distractions can get you killed, Jacen," Kanessa told him, loud enough for it to carry. Scourge had to nod in approval. The girl knew the benefits keeping focus amid distractions.

The Jedi clapped a few times, calling the students' attention and pausing the fights that were still going on. "Kanessa has a point," the teacher explained. "Being distracted during a fight, such as staring at a Sith showing up and observing," here he indicated Scourge, "can be potentially fatal. Kanessa, did you take notice of Lord Scourge's arrival?"

"I did, Master Relnex," she replied calmly. Scourge could hear no falsehood in her voice, and he was sure Relnex could tell the same. "I could sense he was no immediate threat, so I chose to take advantage of my opponent's distraction to decisively end the fight instead of staring like a stunned bantha." This drew a few chuckles from some of the students, and a glare from the fop.

"Cheater," the boy, Jacen, muttered.

"It's not cheating when you leave yourself so open," she teased back.

Relnex cleared his throat. "We will talk about your opportunistic move later. That so many of you lost focus is disappointing, though." He turned to Lord Scourge. "And you, Lord Scourge? Do you have anything to add."

"I believe you and your most promising student have it covered on that topic." He could see a light shine in Kanessa's eyes when he said this, while Jacen's face turned into a scowl. "Though I must say everyone's footwork was atrocious. Especially those two," he pointed at Jacen and the Wookiee. "You, Alderaanian, need to remember that Makashi requires precision not only in strikes and parries, but in stance, and use that other arm for balance, not just hiding it behind you. And you, Wookiee, you'll get more power from your blows by keeping your feet a few centimeters closer together; they're too far apart."

As Scourge went through the class, he openly criticized every one of them, telling them exactly what he'd seen wrong. He saved Kanessa for last.

"And you, young one, may I see your staff?"

"Of course, ma... my lord." She handed him the staff, and he spun it.

"A well-balanced weapon. Your future saberstaff will be useful. Soresu and Ataru are an interesting combination, and very effective with the right stance." He handed it back to her. "Keep your legs shoulder-width apart, no more, no less, and your right foot back just far enough for balance. Assume the stance." She did so, and he kicked her right foot back and inward another centimeter. "Feel that balance?" She nodded. "Now, kick me."

"My lord?"

"Kick me," he commanded her. She barely hesitated, lifting off the ground and spinning in place while kicking out with her foot. He caught it, and she dropped to the ground, but rolled back to resume the starting stance. "Not bad."

He turned back to Relnex, who he could see was taking note of the stances himself. "You may continue, Jedi."

He continued to observe the class, rarely complementing them while giving constructive criticism. As the group broke for the mid-day meal, Relnex turned to talk with Scourge as they walked back to the temple.

"Thank you, Lord Scourge, but...?"

"Why did I give pointers?"

"Not what I was going to ask, but yes."

"I was bored, and it helped to pass the time." Scourge shrugged. "Do not worry, Jedi, I'm not going to steal them away from you."

"I see." Relnex visibly relaxed. "You really think Kanessa is the most promising?"

"Yes," Scourge admitted. "She has determination, and her choice of both an unorthodox weapon at this stage of her training and a combination of styles that complements her strengths shows foresight. She will one day be a Jedi to be reckoned with."

"Perhaps, or you're looking to take one of my students from me," Relnex accused.

"And do what," Scourge scoffed, "take her to Korriban, where I am less welcome there than I am here? Don't mock me, Jedi."

"Still, you are a good teacher. Patient, perceptive, and knowledgeable in all seven forms and their variants."

"Eight," Scourge corrected. "There are eight forms. You forget Juyo. And let's see how skilled you are after three hundred years," he challenged.

"It is not one I've had the chance to study," Relnex admitted. "Have you considered teaching lightsaber combat here?"

"And risk my turning your students to the Dark Side?" Scourge asked, clearly amused by the question. "I would attempt it, you know, if only for my own amusement. Besides, I doubt the Council would allow me that much free reign with the next generation."

"No," Relnex agreed, "I don't think they would, unless you were supervised by a Jedi."

"You want me to help you teach your class." It wasn't a question, and Relnex knew it.

"These kids are a handful, and two teachers are better than one. We are short-handed, after all."

"That isn't the only reason."

"No, it's not," Relnex admitted. "For the last few hundred years, the Jedi have been taught that the Sith are the embodiment of evil. I don't think that's inherently true. You're Sith, and you'll never be a Jedi, and I accept that. You use the dark side and channel your darker emotions, but you're not evil, and I think the younger Jedi will benefit from seeing you helping them."

"I will consider it over lunch."

* * *

Lunch came and went, and Scourge found himself back in the role of teacher, assisting Relnex in teaching another set of students their chosen combat styles. This group, he discovered, was even sloppier than the morning set. He was curt with them, openly critical and never complementary, though never insulting.

"Why in the Force are you letting a _Sith_ teach us?" one of the students, who had been criticized the most, complained to Relnex. Glancing over at Scourge, knowing the Sith had heard the comment, Relnex looked his student in the eye.

"That Sith has had more combat experience in three hundred years than any twenty living Jedi," Relnex explained. "He has mastered all combat forms, and is here at my request to help pass on that knowledge. Respect his experience, at least, and pray you don't meet him in battle."

"Wise words, Master Relnex," a regal female voice called out. All training stopped as everyone, including Lord Scourge, turned to face the newcomer.

"Master Satele, welcome," Relnex greeted her.

"Carry on, Master Relnex," Satele Shan told him. "I came here looking for Lord Scourge."

"And to what do I owe this honor?" Scourge asked. He didn't particularly _like_ the Jedi Grand Master, but he respected her battle prowess and her position.

"Walk with me, please."

As the two wandered off down to a stream's edge, Relnex continued on with his lesson.

"I'm told you've taken an interest in training younglings," Satele mentioned, once they were out of earshot.

"Does that bother you, Master Shan?"

"To a point," she admitted, "though I see the logic in it, given your centuries of experience. So long as you don't..."

"Tempt any younglings toward the dark side," Scourge finished, scoffing. "And here I thought you knew me, Grand Master."

"I do, and I know what Sith are capable of," she explained. "I know it amuses you to tempt someone away from the light."

"Perhaps I've already started," he said with a smirk, "but not with an entire class of students. That would be foolish, and I am no fool. But there is one thing I am curious about."

"Lord Scourge?" Satele looked genuinely concerned.

"A student here asked me a question a few days ago: 'Can the Jedi and Sith work together?' I was unable to give an answer. Can you?"

"If you had asked me that back when we first met, last year," Satele admitted, "I would have said no. But after the events of the past few months, I have to wonder myself. A thousand years of enmity is not easily remedied, and going through the archives we recovered from Coruscant I have to wonder if the Jedi were as responsible for the current troubles as the Sith Emperor."

Scourge nodded. "If I had been asked that same question by a Sith acolyte when I was made a Lord, I would have been obliged to separate the acolyte's head from his shoulders." He stopped and gazed up at the sky. "Is the sky here blue or green?"

"Blue," Satele told him. "Why?"

"It has been so long since I have seen color. Everything now is in shades of gray. Coping with the pain has robbed my senses almost completely."

"You're changing the topic."

"It's relevant. The Sith haven't changed in three hundred years, and I doubt they changed that much in the thousand years before that. Have the Jedi changed in that time?"

"I don't know," Satele admitted. "I've heard stories, of reforms instigated by the Lost Jedi, but having read the proposals of the reforms, I don't think they ever took."

"The 'Lost Jedi'?" Scourge asked.

"Students of Meetra Surik, the Jedi Exile who helped rebuild the Order after..." She stopped as Scourge seemed to stiffen up.

"The Exile," he softly growled.

"Ah yes, you knew her."

"I killed her." There was no emotion in his voice; it was a flat statement, no anger, no remorse.

"Why?"

Scourge sat down on a tree stump. "At the time, I told myself that it was because she and Revan would fail, and that to find the Jedi whose face I'd seen in my vision I'd have to sacrifice her. Now, even that sounds hollow, even to myself. Would any other Sith have recognized the danger the Emperor posed? Could they have acted in time? Would they have recognized the true threat he represented?"

"Hindsight is often clear, foresight less so," Satele admitted. "If our positions were reversed, and I was a Sith and you the Jedi Grand Master who had fought against the Sith all of your adult life, how would you react to having a Sith with intimate knowledge of how the Emperor thought and a claim similar to yours show up offering aid?"

"I'd probably think the galaxy had gone crazy," Scourge admitted.

"And maybe it had," Satele said. "Sajar. Praven. Those were Sith who turned to the light, claiming to want to learn from the Jedi. And there were other Sith who changed sides. And yes, Jedi who defected to the Sith: Ki Sazen, Jaesa Willsaam, Ashara Zavros. You were the enigma, a Sith who remained Sith and aided Jedi. Unprecedented.

"And now you're teaching lightsaber combat to Jedi younglings," Satele continued. "Do you intend to take one as an apprentice of your own?"

Scourge considered his reply carefully. "I don't have any intentions toward anything at the moment," he admitted. "The Emperor is dead, though I'm remaining vigilant towards any surprises he may have left, and toward any attempt at resurrection. But while I remain Sith, the Empire won't have me, seeing me a traitor." A thought struck him. "Any apprentice I take would also not be accepted by the Empire's Sith," he remarked.

"The Empire's Sith," Satele echoed. "Interesting turn of phrase."

"Yes," Scourge admitted. "I was wondering if you'd catch that."

They stayed in silence for a long while, gazing out across the stream.

"I once felt the pull of the dark side," Satele admitted after a time. "It was after the Battle of Alderaan. The Jedi had discovered I was pregnant with Commander Malcolm's son."

"You gave into your base instincts." It was not a question.

"No," Satele said, "that implies that it was lust and physical passion that drove us. With us, it was trust, then love, then tender nights taking comfort in each other. There was passion, yes, that cannot be denied, but the passion was a result of our love, not the cause. Love that led to our son's birth. And then there was the choice to be made as he grew inside me. Jedi are forbidden to have attachments, even those of family. Those that cling to their attachments are expelled from the Order. I often wondered why, until I gave birth to Theron. Then I had a choice: to give him up and remain a Jedi, or to leave the Jedi and raise a family." She paused. "Choosing the Jedi over a family was the hardest choice I ever had to make. And given our present relationship, I'm not entirely sure I made the right one."

"You haven't said when you felt the pull."

"It was the day I was given the choice. I felt anger, hatred, and pain at being forced to choose while still recovering from the birth, holding my son in my arms. The Council had sent Master Zallow to give me the ultimatum. I wanted, with all my heart, to literally rip his heart out of his chest the way he figuratively tore at mine. But then, I had a vision."

"A vision?" Scourge was no stranger to visions coming at odd times.

"Yes," she continued. "It was of myself if I continued down that path. First I saw myself kneeling before the Emperor, pledging my loyalty to him, then standing side by side with a pureblooded Sith - you, though I didn't know it at the time - as we fought and killed the Jedi sent to destroy him. I saw myself killing you as you protected that Jedi, and taking your place as the immortal Wrath, though the vision didn't tell the title. I saw my son Force choking his father to death. Ironic, since Theron was born blind to the Force, like his father." She paused.

"I saw the worst possible future that would have occurred if I'd given in. It was tempting. In battle, I detached myself, letting the Force guide my actions. In the vision, I felt the power the dark side offered. All I had to do was take it, protect my son, and the galaxy would die." She paused, watching Scourge's face; he gazed back at her impassionately.

"Every mother wants to protect her children," she continued after a moment. "Somehow, the Force told me the best way to protect him was to give him up. And even then, I almost gave into the dark side anyway. Could I have not given in and not given him up? Left the Order without turning to the Sith? I belive I could have. Should I have? That is tougher to answer."

"You understand the decision I had to make, and the sacrifices," he replied. "Perhaps the Sith and Jedi are more alike than I suspected, though our strengths come from different sources." He looked down the river toward a stone tower that rose over a hill. "What is that?"

"The ruins of Kaleth," Satele told him. "It was the last stronghold of the first sect of dark siders the Jedi ever fought, back before the founding of the Republic. Our survey teams are still mapping it, and occasionally masters send their padawans there to face their own dark sides."

"It should be an interesting place." In his mind, a plan was forming.

* * *

The next day, he discovered, was a day the younger students had to themselves. As Relnex's classes weren't in session, Scourge decided to scout out the ruins of Kaleth. As he was leaving the temple, however, he came upon an interesting scene. Kanessa stood there in a combat stance, her staff at the ready, as Jacen and two of the other students from her combat class surrounded her.

"So, the Sith's pet thinks she's better than us, boys," Jacen taunted her. "Runt was practically glowing when he gave her the only praise."

"Don't think about it, Rist," she warned them. "I was holding back earlier. I don't want to hurt you again."

_Fascinating_, Scourge thought as he observed them from the shadows. _She's not angry or upset, just determined. Also, 'Rist', as in House Rist, the assassins of Alderaan? No wonder he's the way he is._

"If you think you have a chance agains the three of us, Sithling," one of the others taunted, "you've got another think coming."

"Yeah," the third remarked, "I wonder if she'll run off crying to her Sith master. What was his name? Scratch? Scrounge?"

"Scraper, I think it was," the second taunted. "As in scraping the bottom of the barrel for apprentices here." Scourge groaned inwardly at their lack of wit. To egg things on, and to see how this would turn out, he stepped out from where he was hiding and approached the group.

"Are you three going to attack her," he asked them, "or just engage in a battle of wits she's already won because you opened your mouths?"

Kanessa kept her eyes on her taunters, waiting for them to make the first move, all but ignoring Scourge's presence. The other three seemed to shrink back in fear.

"Do you think _I'm_ going to tell one of the Jedi that I witnessed three of their students trying to beat up on someone almost half their size?" Scourge continued. "If she's weak, I'd probably say she deserved it. If you're the weak ones, you'll run, or she'll beat you up. Are the three of you the weak ones?"

"I am not weak!" Jacen yelled, charging forward and swinging wildly with his training saber. To Lord Scourge, it seemed as if time slowed down as he watched the ensuing fight.

First, Kanessa ducked under the wild swing and stepped to the right, swinging her staff around to crack her attacker in the knees, followed immediately by an upswing. A loud _**CRACK!**_ echoed the hallways as the staff connected to his jaw, toppling him over onto the floor. The other two stepped forward, a bit hesitantly, their swords glancing off her staff. Jacen shook his head, trying to recover, as Kanessa flipped over her attackers. The second boy used that moment to try and stab her in the back, but her staff swung around and clonked him upside the head. The third looked at her, then turned and ran.

"Coward," Kanessa and Scourge both scoffed at the same time.

Dropping her staff, Kanessa held out her hands toward Jacen and the other boy, lifting them off the ground as they reached for their necks grasping at invisible hands. Scourge could feel the dark side pouring off her, and her barely contained anger. "Tell me, Jacen, who is the weak one here?" she asked her would-be tormentor.

"I- I am!" he coughed.

"And, if I am Sith as you claim, why should I not cull the weak?" Scourge raised an eyebrow to that. He was intrigued, curious as to what her next move would be. Jacen sputtered out an answer Scourge couldn't quite make out. "What was that, schutta?" she asked.

"D- do it!" the other boy gasped. "K-kill u-us."

Kanessa dropped her arms, releasing both as they fell to the ground gasping.

"Know this, Rist," she growled. "If you try anything like this again, I will kill you, inside the Jedi temple or out. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind." Scrambling to their feet, the two boys ran as fast as they could.

"It is not wise to let an enemy live," Scourge commented.

"He won't try anything again," Kanessa mentioned casually. "And if he does, my lord, well, the Jedi haven't driven away _all_ of my Sith training. I don't bluff."

Scourge smiled coldly. "You don't belong here."

Kanessa met his smile with a cold one of her own. "I don't belong with the Sith either. My passion will keep me from becoming a Jedi, and the Sith won't have me back. There is no third option."

"Then let us make one," Scourge decided. Kanessa raised an eyebrow. "Come with me to Kaleth, young one," he offered. "The dark side is strong there; let's find out why." _And if it can be turned into a Sith academy of my own_, he thought to himself.

"As you say, my lord."

* * *

**This story was never actually finished, as I wrote it several years ago (even before I started my Ashara story). As the title indicates this would have ended up a Sith faction allied with - but not ****_serving_****; there ****_is_**** a difference - the Republic and the Jedi. I pictured Scourge cherry-picking the Jedi Temple's "problem" students, the ones that could not follow the Jedi Code, for his own tutelage.**

**The real question is: How would the Jedi respond?**


End file.
